EE, Three, VMO2 launch 4G on Elizabeth Line
December 20, 2023
EE, Virgin Media O2 and Three have announced the arrival of 4G on TfL’s Elizabeth line, with four central London stations stretching from the West End to the City now live with 4G services.
The Elizabeth line is TfL’s newest train line, having opened in May 2022, and becomes the fourth to receive underground mobile connectivity, joining stations along the Jubilee, Northern and Central lines as part of the ongoing roll-out in partnership with Boldyn Networks.
Today’s news also marks 12 months since EE first announced high-speed mobile connectivity at stations beyond the eastern half of the Jubilee line, and rounds-off a busy year which has seen a total of 25 stations go live, including, in recent weeks, Goodge Street, Warren Street and several surrounding tunnels to deliver continuous Northern Line coverage between Tottenham Court Road and Archway. In that time, EE customers have consumed 424TB of data while travelling along the connected stations and tunnels of the Central and Northern lines. This equates to spending over 72,000 hours streaming 4K video, 106 million hours of music streaming, or 28 million hours browsing the Internet – demonstrating the value EE’s 4G and 5G networks provide in keeping customers entertained, connected and informed during their journeys.
Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer, BT Group, said: “We’re delighted to bring the UK’s best network to the first Elizabeth line stations, marking another significant milestone in the roll-out of 4G and 5G across the London Underground. That we’re already seeing vast amounts of data consumed by our customers while they travel signifies how important this project is for London’s residents, visitors and businesses, and we’re excited to accelerate the deployment as we head into 2024.”
EE’s coverage is delivered in partnership with Boldyn Networks, whose multi-carrier network connects London Underground’s stations and tunnels both with each other and with the outside world. EE’s mobile network connects to this infrastructure via base stations from Nokia’s AirScale radio access portfolio, providing immediate and continuous mobile coverage to customers.
Speaking on Three’s launch, David Hennessy, Chief Technology Officer at Three UK, said: “We are pleased to bring 4G coverage to the Elizabeth Line and five more stations including Chancery Lane. Our customers can now stay connected at more than 20 stations with the ambition to cover the majority of the TFL network by the end of next year.”
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “The latest rollout of 4G coverage on the Elizabeth line will help to ensure that our customers can get mobile coverage on the move. Virgin Media O2 is dedicated to improving the commuting experience for our customers by expanding phone network coverage on the London Underground and this marks another significant milestone. Rollout continues and by the end of 2024, tube customers will be able to access 4G and 5G mobile connectivity across a significant proportion of the network.”